Overlord: Start from the Goblin Lair.

Chapter 6: Deserted Village
Ron roughly observed the surrounding environment: the entrance of the goblin's lair was halfway up the mountain, there was a cliff in front of the door, and under the cliff was a dried-up riverbed.

"I know of three villages," Driver pointed in three directions. "There's one in the north, which is the closest. There's one in the southwest, which can be reached by following the river below. There's also one in the east, which is the farthest."

"How about we go to the nearest one first?" Ivy suggested.

"A disaster is about to happen in the north, so it's best to stay away from it," Ron shook his head. "Besides, they were originally planning to migrate to the north, and that village is the closest, so there must be nothing left."

"Let's go to the southwest, Driver, you lead the way."

Ivy wanted to say something else, but after thinking about it carefully, it made sense, and her current physical condition did not allow her to have her own ideas, so she had to slowly go down the mountain with Ron's support.

"We actually have a ladder and ropes that can take us directly down," Driver glanced at Ivy, "but this burden..."

"Who are you calling a burden?!" Ivy's thin eyebrows immediately stood up, "When I'm not injured, I can beat you up!"

"I believe," Driver smiled cunningly. His voice and smile made the goblin hunter look extremely evil. "So they released the wolves and rats, and they almost bit you to death."

Going down the riverbed, there were no cries of birds or animals, nor the sound of flowing water or trees. The occasional bickering between Driver and Ivy became the best background music.

By the afternoon, even Ron had joined the melee.

In the evening, the sun, which was almost setting, finally spared this land, and the slight evening breeze brought a little coolness.

"Tsk, no more talking! I'm dying of thirst!"

Ivy waved her hand with a dry mouth to drive Driver away from her - this guy did have a blood bag to replenish his water!

But she couldn't tell what kind of blood it was, and she didn't dare drink it!

"Let's replenish it," Ron took the leather bag filled with blood, tilted his head back, drank two mouthfuls without touching each other, and then passed it to Ivy. "Although the blood has a high protein content, which will lead to elevated blood ammonia after decomposition, long-term consumption will lead to liver toxicity and cause diseases of the central nervous system. But now is a special period, and it is more important to maintain physical strength - especially since you are a patient."

Ivy looked at Ron as if he were a monster: "How could you do that! That could be human blood!"

"Does any blood matter?"

"No, I mean, of course it's important! I definitely won't drink it! We should be able to reach the village soon..."

Ivy licked her chapped lips. It would be a lie to say she wasn't thirsty. Her throat felt like smoking and it felt like she had swallowed a razor blade. But...drinking blood?

"The people in the village moved away because of water shortage. How could they leave water resources behind?" Ron shook his head and returned the blood bag to Driver. "Is that shadow in front the village?"

"Yes, that's it!" Driver nodded firmly, "I know that wall!"

"I went there to steal something before, and I almost got hung up there when I was trying to escape!"

This is the advantage of races with dark vision. Ron, who originally had poor eyesight, could only barely see the outlines of objects in the dim light, but in Driver's eyes, those wooden walls were as clear as could be.

But come to think of it, don't half-elves also have darkvision?

"I'm not talking to you!" Ivy snorted, "I saw it before you all, so I didn't want to..." But in fact, as Ron guessed, the villagers here migrated because of drought. When the three walked into the deserted village, the most common things they saw were discarded bottles, cans, buckets, and basins.

Ron picked up a stone and threw it into the dry well in the center of the village, but no sound of water could be heard.

"This..." Ivy was dumbfounded. She didn't pay much attention to these villages when she came here and didn't expect this to be the case.

"There are other ways to replenish water," Driver dug up the sand at the base of a wall and pulled out a small animal that looked like a scorpion. "They can also store water in their bodies."

It looked like Driver was eager to teach Ivy how to survive in the wild, but looking at the smirk on his face, Ron guessed that this little animal was definitely not that simple.

Sure enough, after Ivy saw the clue and decisively rejected the goblin hunter's "suggestion", Driver, who failed to play a trick on others, threw away the insect in his hand and caught another species and put it in his mouth.

"That spicy one," he explained to Ron.

Ivy didn't care at all that her face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

The half-elf looted almost the entire village in a fit of anger, but when she finally returned to the empty house where she was resting and met Ron and Driver who were building a bonfire, the things she brought back could even be carried with her own hands.

A few candles, flint, a thin, worn-out quilt, and even some makeshift hemp ropes.

If Driver hadn't brought enough dry food (meat) and water (blood) for three people for five days, they would have starved.

"Gulp gulp -- ha --"

Ivy had to accept her fate and let go of her pride. After drinking the plasma, she ate three pieces of barbecue before she stopped. Her appetite left Driver dumbfounded.

"You guys take a rest first, I'll be in charge of the first half of the night." Ron made a "please" gesture to the house and sat down by the fire.

This was his first night in this world. With curiosity and vigilance, Ron looked at the world around him in the light of the fire in front of him.

The village was surrounded by a wooden wall about one meter high, with a well in the center. The houses were scattered around, with no uniform building materials or style.

From thatched huts to mud houses to stone houses, just like the ones built by the thirty little pigs.

Looking up, he saw a starry sky that only existed in Ron's childhood memories. Especially at this time of drought, clouds were hard to see, and the stars in the sky became brighter in Ron's eyes, forming a sharp contrast with the dark background in the distance.

Ron suddenly blinked. Was it a flower?

Just now it seemed like a few dark shadows flashed past the village entrance.

Could it be...

Ron didn't know what he should or shouldn't expect, but it was too late to say anything now, and protecting himself was the most important thing.

There were no weapons around, so Ron pulled up a thick branch from the fire. There was a burning flame on it, driving away the unknown darkness around him.

(End of this chapter)